Quarter of a century

Yep, me. I'm officially a quarter of a century old. OLD!

However, I do feel like I'm 21 still- is that bad thing???Joey made my birthday extremely special. We went out to dinner at Mo's Steakhouse, then to the Rathskellar to watch Zanna Doo with the fam.
My bro even came. It's been too long since we went out last.

Then the Matis crew + Eric Hall. Ironically, all but Katie and Willie played on the 1992-1994 Greenwood Little League White Sox team. We were a dynasty. Joey, LJ and I still make it over to the fields. It's amazing how little they look now because I felt like they were huge when I was 10!!! Good times, good times.

1st night away

Have you ever rented a double decker boat with a slide on Lake Monroe?? OH my goodness, it's a must!!!! I can't wait to go back, and if you'd like to join, let me know!

Miss Emmalee Frey is on the left and Miss Carrie Clevenger is on the right. Some of my favorites!!! This picture was obviously taken before the PARTAY!!!

One of my besties, Emmalee Frey, is getting married in August. We had her bachelorette party in Bloomington with all of our pledge sisters. Lake Monroe all day, cocktail happy hour at the Hilton, and then cruisin' the bars like we used to (just 4 years older). The night consisted of trying to get free shots and Dance Party USA at Kilroys. Above is Sarah Richardson, Kendra Veil, Megan Korte, myself, and Laura Phillips. Oh do I have a story for you about Phillips. This woman is the queen of cell phones If you have never thought of this and your an avid texter, you'll love this. Ok, the majority, cough, a lot of Miss Phillip's time is taken up with her expressing her texting skills. She texts sooooo much that her phone tends to run out of battery before the night is over. Since it's hard to charge up the ol' cellular at Kilroy's, she brings her back up phone and she'll switch her sim card mid dance while we're out. She always has a back up phone on her and I think she typically plans on using it. So-- if your battery tends to run out, just pack your back up. Who knew we didn't have to go a night with a dead battery?? I don't know about you, but I enjoy a dead battery- a perfect excuse to not worry about anyone and enjoy the night:) HOWEVER, while I have a 13 month old, I'll continue to check for a phone call mid-teeth clean... ya know, just in case he happens to fall, right?!

1st night away from the lil' man= GIRLS NIGHT OUT!!!

Below are some of my lovely pledge sisters- some of the best girls in the world!

Happy Father's Day

To my best friend, my right hand man and my love:

Thank you. You make LJ and my world a living dream. Every day I'd admire so many qualities about you. I love how you wake up every day with the best attitude, how you can be so unbelievably tired but still let me sneak in a cat nap before you take off, how you manage to prioritize our family when there's so much going on in the rest of your world. I love how you always listen to me babble, how you never offer negative advice, and how you honestly have never been mad at me since we've been together. You are a role model to so many and you change the lives of strangers every day. Because of you I try hard to be a better person and I try harder to be the best wife and mom I can be. Thank you for putting up with me- with my indecisiveness, with my randomness and my bad attitude afternoons. I'd be a lost crazy person without you. I can't thank you enough. I don't deserve you but I'm so unbelievably blessed to have you. Thank you for all you do. I may never understand why God placed you in my life but I thank him every day for that. You deserve the best day!! Love, Leah

We've been released.

Today we were released from Riley after being there since late Monday night. I don't know how to make this story short, but I know many of you have questions and I'll try my best.

Big Joey went to Canada the first weekend of June. He got home Sunday the 7th- Tuesday he had a bad fever, then Wednesday he was fine. Wednesday night LJ got a fever and Thursday night I got a fever for about 6 hours. LJ didn't get over his fever. We were alternating Motrin and Tylenol every 3-4 hours, and still there was a fever. He continued to get worse- he was eating less, drinking less, and sleeping a lot more. We thought he had a bad cough with a fever. Our pediatrician put him on an antibiotic Friday afternoon, and then on Saturday he kept getting worse. He was waking up in the morning burning up and wanted to lay in our arms for most of the day. Sunday he only had a few sippy cups of Gatorade, and Monday was worse. He was sleeping about 18 hours a day. He drank 2 sippy cups of Gatorade Monday night before bed, but after he was asleep for about 30 minutes I went back there because he was breating harder and taking shorter breaths. He had a hard time opening his eyes and he was burning up. We took him to St. Francis ER (which I don't recommend EVER bring an infant there). We sat in the lobby for abou 2 hours, then they put us in a small room for another hour. LJ was getting worse by the second. My mom met us there. By 12am he was laying limp in her arms and turning deep red. We kept asking nurses and doctors for help, but we just kept getting put off. They kept telling us he'd be ok. Finally LJ laid completely limp and it looked like if we were waited any longer, it'd get really bad. My mom went yelling in the hallway for help and I really don't remember a lot after this. We flew into another room, and about 6-7 nurses started trying to get an IV. They were trying in his head, his hands, and feet- no luck. I felt like they had never seen a baby before. None of them could get an IV started. I felt hopeless. Finally the doctor on staff called Riley to get their transport team to lifeline LJ to Riley. Twenty very long minutes later, LJ was lifelined to Riley. During transport they were able to start an IV with fluids and an antibiotic. I truly felt as if they saved us. It's about 2am now and we are in the ER at Riley (awesome nurses, I might add). They started taking blood and nose swabs. They weren't sure what he had- they were throwing around terms like meningitis, pneumonia, leukemia, and lymphoma- very hard things to hear. About 6am they put us upstairs in isolation. After more labs on Tuesday we found out LJ had a very bad virus and his white blood cell count was extremely low. We continued to keep in on fluids and love on him as much as we could. He really only could just lay in our arms until Wednesday morning. He wouldn't even budge if someone was drawing blood or checking his vitals- it was awful. We just felt like we were living a nightmare. Wednesday afternoon we took more blood work and his white blood cell count was lower and the doctors felt his liver was enlarged. They wanted to keep monitoring him in isolation. Have you ever seen the movie Outbreak?? We were like that... in a room where only a few visitors came in a day wearing masks, shields, gloves and gowns. They never stayed long. LJ continued to improve and they took him off his fluid IV to see how he was doing. He continued to get stronger. I felt like he was such a fighter in there. The nurses felt like he was such a "soldier." We were woken up at 5am Thursday morning because they wanted more lab work. Now LJ was able to put up a tiny fight, but really not much. The blood in these labs clotted, so they called in the IV team at 11am because there was only 1 vein left they felt had a chance. They got blood, lab work back at 3pm, and the news was good. His white blood cell count had improved. We found out we would be getting released. So now we are home. LJ is still pretty weak and we are working hard to make sure he gets plenty of fluids. His immune system is down, so we have to stay away from visitors for a week or so. I'm so happy to be on the upswing of things. Now can I talk about the power of prayer that I have never felt before. Every moment I sent out a mass text or posted on facebook- within minutes I felt an upswing, I felt hope, and I'd see a light. It was truly amazing! I felt the comfort about my friends and I felt God's comfort this whole week. We feel so blessed to have had this many people thinking about us. We are so lucky, and all of out there who prayed for us are truly special people. I can't thank you enough.

Don't let this pictures fool you. They were taken minutes before we were released. I wanted these pics to remember how small he was when we were at Riley. There really wasn't an appropriate time to take them earlier on- ya know?

He was such a big boy all week. Did I mention how much we loved Riley?? The staff was amazing. They were very good about educating us and the volunteers were priceless. They brought us games, cards, activities, and we could even play Bingo on the TV with all of the other patients without leaving our room. There was even a distraction team who came in to play with Joey when he was getting poked. If you are ever asked to donate to Riley- just do $1. A lot of that goes toward their activity cart, which brought such a big smile to our face when they came around. We just felt like someone was there for us when we couldn't have visitors.

Here we are... soooo happy to hear we are coming home. Who knew how nice it'd feel to get back to our day to day grind? I'm so excited to be back, so excited!!!

La la la!

Hi guys! I'm back already.

Too close?

This is what happens at Nannie's when Sloanie is there too. We fight over Nannie. We just can't get enough of that lady. She always picks me up when I make a peep, and she's always giving me treats and new diapies. She's soooooo much goodness!!
This is what happens when Aunt Brooke is in charge. We do work. She's always putting me to work. I file papers, type letters and organize all of her drawers. It's a good thing she has Sloanie and I to help her with all of her busy work stuff.



Oh I got me some new kix!! THEY ARE AWESOME!!! Apparently I wear a 5 double wide, so I've been having some trouble walking in my regular shoes. Mommy and Nannie took me to this shop where, holy cow, there were like 9 gazzillion shoes. Once I put these nifty brown velcro ones on, I knew they were meant for me.... just like Cinderelly.

This is my 2nd cousin, once removed, Gwenny (or I could just say Mommy's 1st cousin). She's a professional tap dancer in New York. She's an unbelievable dancer!!!!!! You have to see her moves. The Wiggles have nothing on her. I got to play with her last weekend. I love her!

Not my best pic-- the sun was in my eyes big time!

So many friends, so little time.

Hey guys!!! It's me, Joey. Happy June!! I am quite the busy beaver. I feel like everyday I get to see one of my friends. I learn so much from them. I got to spend all weekend with my cousin, Sloanie!! Listen here, she is a HOOT!!!! She's teaching me sooo much. She knows how to say like 40 words and 5 signs and all of her animals. More importantly she's taught me how to flip over the glider, throw my diapies, and what a pow pow is. I stayed the night at Nannie's with Sloanie all weekend. I felt like every time I woke up, she was looking for me. Man though, I was exhausted come Sunday morn, and then she came over to my house on Sunday. She's so smart. I hope I'm a lot like her one day.

I went over to mommy's friends house last week. Listen to how many people were there... Emmie, Tye, Sadie, Audrey, Amy, Abe, Luke, Mommy and me!! We played outside in the sandbox, in the grass, and on the slide. They introduced all sorts of things to me like cookies and suckers, but I really didn't like them at all- yucky!!

This is one of my best pals, Jake Irwin. We went to the Indians game together last weekend. We had this thing called a suite, so Mommy ate a lot of food and I played inside and outside with Jakers. There was also this other baby there. His name was Maddox, but he's not old enough yet to play ball. He's like... just a baby. Hopefully he can come over soon though. He looks like he has potential.

Oh, oh, oh... this is my really good friend David Walker Dale. Isn't he the coolest??? I think he's going to look a lot like me. He's got a lot of what Mommy calls "chub." I just tell her I'm a well fed healthy GROWING boy! David lives in Michigan, but I get to see him every time he's home. We played Mardi Gras... boys only though.

If you want a playdate with me, feel free to call Mommy. She has my black book.

Quick pics

I finally got a hold of my mom's camera and pulled these pics off of it. This is Pop Pop and Grandpa clownin' around with Little Joey.Little Joey NOT interested in his birthday cake.

Aunt Donna rockin' the baby.

LJ's 1st birthday. I wasn't sure if I mentioned his party started out 3:30 pm and some people left at 1:30pm-- the rest stayed the night. I guess the tradition is to take jello shots after the babe goes down??????

We had a great time!

My mom always told me...

to say a little prayer every morning for all the moms out there trying to get out the door in the morning and their kids off to the sitter/school. I was thinking about this this week because summer starts... hmm... sounds contradicting, huh? I pray for all of those moms out there who have to figure out sitters for the summer, have to leave their (s) home alone for the first time so they can get to work, and have to leave for work at 5:45 am to get their babe to the sitter by 6am, so they can get to work by 7:30 if all goes well. I pray for these moms that get off work at 5pm to rush to the sitter by 6pm (before it closes), then rushes home to feed their babe(s) dinner, and then maybe an hour of playtime before their babe goes to bed at 8pm. I pray for the moms out there that rush around from 8-10pm trying to spend time with family, paying the bills, cleaning the house, doing laundry and dishes, and cleaning out lunchboxes and then packing them back up. I pray for these moms that try to get to bed before 10:30pm that get 5 1/2 hours of sleep (if nobody wakes up), and then gets back up to do it all over again at 5am. Oh, and did I forget to mention this is when all things go smooth?? No extra errands, no ear infections, no doctor's appointments, no funerals and not being in charge of anyone elses' kids. I pray for these moms because I don't know how they do it.

Don't get me wrong because I get exhausted, but my days are simple. I work Monday 10-5 (straight- no lunch), Tuesday 6:45am-2pm (no lunch), and Friday 8-1pm. I live exactly 6 miles from both of my babysitters (my mom and my mother-in-law), which is one right turn out of my neighborhood, another right turn onto Main Street and either a left to my mother-in-law's house or a right to my mom's house. My parents and in-laws live less than a mile away from each other. It takes me 10 minutes to get there in "rush hour" traffic. After I drop LJ off to the FREE babysitters, I drive less than a mile (a left on Main, right on Averitt from my mom's or a left onto Averitt from my in-laws) to work. I work with my wonderful dad, hilarious brother, and generous uncle. I work with a staff that all have kids-- most being under the age of 3. We have a lot in common, a lot of advice for each other, and a lot of hand-me-downs. My days are easy, very easy. I have a low stress job, which pays very well, and I have wonderful babysitters who spoil LJ more than I ever could.

I'm very blessed, so I pray for the moms out there who have the hardest job in the world.